Dedicated to the advancement of the State of Indiana by re-affirming our state's constitutional principles that: all people are created equal; no religious test shall be imposed on our public officials and offices of trust; and no special privileges or immunities shall be granted to any class of citizens which are not granted on the same terms to all citizens.
Advance Indiana, LLC. Copyright 2005-13. All rights reserved.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

GOP Must Rebuke Goode's Anti-Islamic Views

Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) apparently hasn't read the U.S. Constitution, which clearly states no religious test may be imposed on a person as a condition to holding a federal office. Goode sent a letter to his constituents complaining about Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim member elected to Congress, and his intention of using the Quran during the official swearing-in ceremony for members of Congress rather than the Bible, which some members use. In the letter Goode wrote:

"When I raise my hand to take the oath on Swearing In Day, I will have the Bible in my other hand. I do not subscribe to using the Quran in any way.

"The Muslim representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and if American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Quran.

"We need to stop illegal immigration totally and reduce legal immigration and end the diversity visas policy pushed hard by President Clinton and allowing many persons from the Middle East to come to this country.

"I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped."

"The Ten Commandments and 'In God We Trust' are on the wall in my office. A Muslim student came by the office and asked why I did not have anything on my wall about the Quran.

"My response was clear, 'As long as I have the honor of representing the citizens of the 5th District of Virginia in the United States House of Representatives, the Quran is not going to be on the wall of my office.' "

Goode's anti-Islamic and anti-immigrant views are nothing of which the GOP should have any part. It is imperative that party leaders immediately step forward and denounce Goode's views. They should also join Democrats in Congress in seeking a reprimand of Goode--for personally attacking and showing intolerance of Ellison's exercise of his religious freedom--by the full House of Representatives as soon as the new members are sworn into office in January. Goode's total lack of understanding of what the U.S. Constitution says about religious freedom is an embarrassment to all Americans.

28 comments:

Recently I watched a TV show about the "New Kremlin" which showed a deluxe fancy bound copy of the Russian Constitution - this special edition was used solely for the swearing-in ceremonies for Russian Presidents. Made sense to me - it seems like a worthwhile ceremony to emulate: swear in all our Federal elected officials on a copy of our U.S. Constitution !

Sen. John Warner has issued a statement in support of using the Koran or any other religious book for the ceremonial swearing in. He didn't condemn Goode per se, but, there is chatter of an official rebuke by the House once Congress is back in session, and a demand for a retraction (a la Jean Shmidt) on the floor. Personal attacks are not allowed, though he didn't say that on the floor, so I don't know that that applies. Good for Warner on taking the lead on this, it'll be interesting to see who follows his lead.

Hey AI- Hopefully, no one tells Mr. Goode that those 10 Commandments he's got up (not to mention, er, the Bible) "immigrated" here from that Middle Easterny part of the world. I think Goode would be def anti-Moses given his stated criteria.

Get real.By Sharia'a Law, one may not 'swear' on or by anything.Is Ellison a Muslim? Doubtful..He's just another "user"/"deciever.You people need to hit the books! and find out what it is you 'know fer sure'.

Ellison converted to Islam while in college. It's an eye-opening time for all of us. I prefer not to question his motives. If, as some suggest (radio talk show hosts, the poster above), his motives are opportune and not genuine, it'll show up soon enough.

Until that time, we should celebrate and promote the swearing-in of a new Democratic Congress. Show the world--only here can someone like Ellison get elected, and profess his oath on a holy book that is used by a minnority of residents.

Over the years the Dixiecrats were driven from the Democratic Party and were welcomed into todays "modern" Republican Party that pseudo-monarchists adore. Rep. Goode himself is one of those apostate Democrats who are the new backbone of the rightwing GOP. You Republicans are welcome to him - democratic Democrats rightly abhor such bigots. Hailstone: face it - Goode is your kind of guy!

Sometimes Klansmen are smart enough to doff the white robe and wear a nice business suit and tie. I'd go more by what a man/woman does than what he says. But then, Rep Goode makes a good case that even words matter.

Look, there are kooks and extremists in every group-- just let them speak and reveal themselves, so we can excoriate them out of polite society. When they hide their true beliefs is when we have problems.

Yes, Senator Byrd was a Kluxer many many years ago but he renounced and abjured that youthful indiscretion many years ago. His voting record on civil rights has been superb for quite some time now. Some Republicans call themselves good Christians but forget the power of redemption. Folk covering up for the ugly racist and homophobic wing of the GOP always try to distract and deflect by hollering "Kluxer Byrd!" Face it: Eric Miller, Tom Tancredo and Virgil Goode are REPUBLICANS.

By the way, have all the Black Republicans in Congress or the Legislature denounced Goode? Ooopsies, there aren't any ... I wonder why ...

Seriously, after September 11th, any nation that was not insane would have halted all muslim immigration. We have absolutely no obligation to let them in. They come here at our whim. September 11th was far more than enough cause to bar the whole lot of them.

So that's why the African-American community votes better than 90% for Democrats? What you call the "party of racists"? Doesn't that tell you something about maybe Blacks very deliberately avoiding the GOP? If the Democrats were so racist as you apologists claim, you'd certainly expect a lot more Black Republican elected officials but there are NO Black GOP congresspeople and none in our State Legislature either. All the African-Americans there are Democrats - but whiny Republicans try to play their puny race card.

Go up to 38th and Meridian and start telling African-Americans how racist the Democrats are and how welcoming the GOP is - you will be laughed at (if folk are polite).

By the way, take off your hood of anonymity. At this point, you sound like Jocelyn "Deadbeat" Tandy !

Actually.. and I hate to do this.. I have to agree with Wilson. Have any Republicans repudiated this guy's attitudes.. or do the Republicans plan to write off a whole other set of immigrants? Do they really want to end up as the Party of White Evangelicals?

EXAMPLE: One of the local priests here in Lafayette has a huge ministry to the Hispanic community. He is VERY anti-abortion (and closet gay, of course). BUT the Rep Candidate's views on immigration caused him to support inadvertently the DEM he's hated for years for State House.. she coasted to another 60-40 win.

First.. the priest never stated he liked Klinker (Who by the way also often votes pro-life).. he just helped to derail the MAN-- Rhoda-- very homophobic redneck. My point was that the anti-immigrant strain will play itself out faster than the Pro-Jesus wing is in the REP party.

And yeah.. the OTHER Lafayette race had a REP woman who was also a homophobe. She lost in 2004 by 600 votes and @ 1 %.. and in 2006 by 2100 votes.. really did her a lot of good to spend all that money on the $4000 a month billboards and the bus ads..

Wilson46201"pjgoober" had to use an obviously fake name to cover his odious ignorance and racism."

Could you possibly address what I said on logical grounds? Since your pulling out the race card without even elaborating, I'm going to guess no. This is a serious subject with broad implications for america's future. Cheap shots like yours don't do it justice.

"So that's why the African-American community votes better than 90% for Democrats? What you call the "party of racists"?"

Thats quite a simplification of american politics. You can't label a party as racist because a racial group block votes against them. By your logic, the democrats in the south are prejudiced against southern whites, as proven by the fact that southern whites block vote against them. More likely, the two parties simply cobble together whatever coalitions of voters they can, and pander to whoever they can to do it. The democrats shamelessly pander to minorities by showering them with other peoples oppurtunities with AA, and republicans shamelessly pander to Southern whites with shameless social conservatism (or, making the US a theocracy if thats the only way you can understand it).

SUPPORT ADVANCE INDIANA

It takes many hours of time to publish content for Advance Indiana. If you enjoy reading the content of this blog, please help out by contributing. You can click on the "Make A Donation" button below to support Advance Indiana by using PayPal. Thanks to all of those readers who have made contributions in the past and continue to support this blog with your contributions. If you would rather support the blog using an alternative source of payment or would like to advertise on this blog, e-mail me at gwelsh@indy.rr.com for more information.

Blogflux

Subscribe To

Comment Policy

Advance Indiana allows you to post comments via this blog subject to the guidelines set forth herein. You understand that any comments you post are your own and are not those of Advance Indiana. You further understand that Advance Indiana is not responsible for the content of any external sites referenced in your comments. Unlawful, harassing, defamatory, abusive, threatening, harmful, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, racially offensive, or otherwise objectionable comments are not acceptable. If you think any content posted or otherwise included in Advance Indiana violates the guidelines set forth herein, then please alert Advance Indiana.
Advance Indiana reserves the right to pre-screen, edit, and remove any post as it deems appropriate. You specifically acknowledge that Advance Indiana has no obligation to display any post submitted or otherwise provided via Advance Indiana.